Essay on "Elements of Music Harmony and Form"

Essay 3 pages (1097 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Harmony and Form

There are very few elements of a piece of music that are more noticeable and less noticed than form. The simplest way to describe form is as the structure that a piece of music takes and how (and if) it changes. There are many established forms in music, from an Indian raga to a Western sonata and many others in between. Other pieces have forms that are less definable but still incredibly influential -- it is impossible, after all, to have a piece of music that doesn't have structure; anything more than one note automatically has form and structure. The same is true for the concept of harmony. If melody or the melodic line is describes as the horizontal aspect of music -- how a piece changes in itself and affects the listener as it moves through time -- harmony could be termed the vertical aspect of music; that is, harmony deals with the layers and affects of a piece of music in a given point in time. To put it more simply, harmony is the mixture and layering of different notes, either in chords in the melodic line or in separate secondary melodic or harmonic lines. Two pieces of music with very different approaches to form and surprisingly similar attitudes towards harmony are the movement, "The Fair" from Igor Stravinsky's Petrushka, and the Zimbabwean folk melody "Cheumutemgure." Both pieces have several lines stark of melody and/or harmony -- the difference, as will be shown, is not always clear -- but very inconsistent forms.

Oddly, the form of "The Fair" from Starvinsky's Petrushka might seem stranger to Western ears than "Cheumutemgure." Though he various voices and ultimately the language of the latter piece are certainly more alien than the timbre and texture of Stravinsky, there is a more solid melodic line that carries through the piece. Within this relatively short piece, which itself is just a movement in a larger piece, there are several distinct sections that do not always flow evenly with those preceding or following it. There is an especially abrupt and distinct shift in the short-term, moment-to-moment structure of the piece tat occurs about half-way through. Up to this point, the rhythm of the piece was fairly consistent in its bouncy drive. There is an almost percussive element to the staccato and regular rhythm of the piece's first few sections of the piece, which suddenly fades away to be replaced by a more legato, softer melody with a close relation to the opening melodies but which also represents a definite departure. The opening sections, with the driving power behind the march-like and almost ominous sounding melodic line, also sounds highly introductory, as if it is the precursor to the main event. Leading into the softer section as it does gives the structure of this piece a disquieting feeling, almost of disappointment, as if the thing that was waited for and hinted at by the introductory feel of the opening, as if it never arrived, or at least not in the same manner as was imagined. Stravinsky unbalances this piece's form in a way that mirrors the juxtaposition of his melodies and bare harmonic lines.

Stravinsky uses instruments that Western ears are very used to hearing in ways that can be strikingly unfamiliar.… READ MORE

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